Charter school teachers vote to strike Oct. 19 if no deal reached

UNO Charter School Network teachers say they'll also strike if a contract can't be reached.

Teachers at a major charter school network on Thursday demanded a share of the attention focused on the Chicago Teachers Union's contract talks by declaring they will strike Oct. 19 if they can't land a deal of their own.

The strike date given by teachers at the UNO Charter School Network (UCSN) would follow a possible Oct. 11 walkout by the CTU. Negotiators for the union and Chicago Public Schools huddled for hours Thursday at the offices of James Franczek, the district's top labor attorney. No breakthrough was announced and talks are expected to push through the weekend to end an impasse that has gone on for well more than a year.

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The United Educators of USCN are represented by a branch of the American Federation of Teachers that oversees unionized charter schools teachers. But the threatened strike highlights the potential influence the CTU can have on the future of the independently operated charters. CTU Attorney Robert Bloch has been at the bargaining table in both negotiations, and a CTU field representative has helped UCSN teachers organize.

The charter union said 531 of its members cast ballots, and 96 percent of those voters approved a walkout. The union and UCSN remain far apart on teacher pay and benefits.

"We're still very far apart," said Chris Baehrend, president of the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, the AFT branch. "We're hoping this pressure will get them to the bargaining table so we can settle a contract without a strike. It's about getting a fair contract. No one gets into teaching because they're greedy."

Earlier Thursday, CTU members and allies staged demonstrations at schools across the city, part of CTU's ongoing call that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration find more money to offset district budget cuts and finance a potential contract.

Later in the day, pro-charter demonstrators crowded outside CPS headquarters to oppose a cap in the number of charters that has been proposed by the city as part of a contract with the CTU.

As part of a deal union leaders reached with CPS in January, CPS would have agreed to "no net increase" in the city's number of privately operated charter schools. Charter enrollment would also have been limited to only 1 percent more than the existing schools' current capacity.

The CTU has long opposed charters because they often operate without organized labor and provide competition to district-run schools for a dwindling number of students and the dollars that follow them.

Illinois authorities can still override the district's decisions on charter schools, and the CTU has pushed CPS to help scrap the commission that carries broad authority over the state's charter schools.

Illinois Network of Charter Schools head Andrew Broy, who has argued that the CTU has a conflict of interest by helping UCSN's teachers negotiate while bargaining with CPS over a possible cap on charters, described the situation as "an embarrassment."

"If this deal is made, Chicago will have the dubious distinction of being the only major American city with a self-imposed cap on the number of charter public schools," Broy said in a statement.

Teachers at each unionized charter network operate under separate contracts negotiated with each school operator, and they aren't subject to the lengthy rules that govern how and when the CTU's teachers can strike.

In a statement, the UNO charter network said it "still hopes to reach an amicable agreement on a new contract" with its teachers.

"We remain committed to negotiating with the (United Educators of UCSN) and its contracted CTU representatives, we expect the union to do the same," the charter network said. "Due to this vote, we have no option but to be responsible to our parents and students and prepare for the possibility of a strike."